lördag 14 januari 2017

The Quantum Manifesto Contradiction

The Quantum Manifesto calls upon Member States and the European Commission to launch a €1 billion Flagship-scale Initiative in Quantum Technology, preparing for a start in 2018 within the European H2020 research and innovation framework programme.

The scientific basis of the Manifesto is:

With quantum theory now fully established, we are required to look at the world in a fundamentally new way: objects can be in different states at the same time (superposition) and can be deeply connected without any direct physical interaction (entanglement).

The idea is that superposition and entanglement will open capabilities beyond imagination:

This initiative aims to place Europe at the forefront of the second quantum revolution now unfolding worldwide, bringing transformative advances to science, industry and society. It will create new commercial opportunities addressing global challenges, provide strategic capabilities for security and seed as yet unimagined capabilities for the future. As is now happening around the world, developing Europe’s capabilities in quantum technologies will create a new knowledge-based industrial ecosystem, leading to long-term economic, scientific and societal benefits. It will result in a more sustainable, more productive, more entrepreneurial and more secure European Union.

Quantum computers are expected to be able to solve, in a few minutes, problems that are unsolvable by the supercomputers of today and tomorrow.

But from where comes the idea that the quantum world is a world of superposition and entanglement? Is it based on observation? No, it is not, because the quantum world is not open to such inspection.

Instead it comes from theory in the form of a mathematical model named Schrödinger's equation, which is linear and thus allows superposition, and which includes Coulombic forces of attraction and repulsion as forms of instant (spooky) action at distance thus expressing entanglement.

But Schrödinger's equation is an ad hoc man-made theoretical mathematical model resulting from a purely formal twist of classical mechanics, for which a deeper scientific rationale is lacking. Even worse, Schrödinger's equation for an atom with $N$ electrons involves $3N$ space dimensions, which makes computational solution impossible even with $N$ very small. Accordingly, the Manifesto does not allocate a single penny for solution of Schrödinger's equation, which is nowhere mentioned in the Manifesto. Note that the quantum simulatorsof the grand plan shown above are not digital solvers of Schrödinger's equation, but Q

can be viewed as analogue versions of quantum computers, specially dedicated to reproducing the behaviour of materials at very low temperatures, where quantum phenomena arise and give rise to extraordinary properties. Their main advantage over all-purpose quantum computers is that quantum simulators do not require complete control of each individual component, and thus are simpler to build.

Several platforms for quantum simulators are under development, including ultracold atoms in optical la ices, trapped ions, arrays of superconducting qubits or of quantum dots and photons. In fact, the rst prototypes have already been able to perform simulations beyond what is possible with current supercomputers, although only for some particular problems.

The Quantum Manifesto is thus based on a mathematical model in the form of a multi-dimensional Schrödinger equation suggesting superposition and entanglement, from which the inventive physicist is able to imagine yet unimagined capabilities, while the model itself is considered to be useless for real exploration of possibilities, because not even a quantum computer can be imagined to solve the equation. This is yet another expression of quantum contradiction.

Recall that the objective of RealQM is to find a new version of Schrödinger's equation which is computable and can be used for endless digital exploration of the analog quantum world.